Feel-good Rant Time

[blucougar.livejournal.com]

In light of the interviews that we've been subjected to, post-COE, I think it's time that we made a collective effort to do something that will make us all feel a bit better, and more cheerful. Personally, I think it would be quite therapeutic to list (bullet point form or otherwise) the reasons we hate Gwen.

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I was thinking that each of us could list one aspect about her that we hate, and maybe give an example. I always felt that venting is a good outlet for frustration, so let's all have a good, therapeutic vent, and live up to our new slogan!

To kick it off -
I hate Gwen for/because of:

Her superior attitude.
She is the least experienced of the team, and is responsible for even more deaths than Jack (how many blokes died in 'Day One' again?), and yet she seems to believe she has the requisite skills and knowledge to take control of Torchwood. She nearly got herself and Rhys killed in Day Two of COE, but had the nerve to have a go at Ianto for taking his time in arriving with the tractor to rescue Jack. A normal, decent-minded person would have said 'thankyou'.


She has so many faults, it took me half an hour to decide which one I'd point out.

Comments

[caz251.livejournal.com]

I hate Gweb for/because:

Her Adulterous Ways
She says that she loves Rhys but she kisses Carys, sleeps with Owen, makes cow eyes at Jack and she's jealous of Tosh and her frozen soldier and asks for a pretty boy from the freezer for herself.

I'm sorry but if you love someone you don't cheat on them or try to get any male with a pulse that will fall under her spell. You also don't tell them the truth then drug them so they don't remember.

Mini-rant over now.

[elanor12.livejournal.com]

That was what I wanted to say. :D
Exactly the same except for Carys. She didn't necesarely wanted to kiss her, but then again. they wanted to show her great heart *note the sarcasm* but it just show right away how stupid she is.

[caz251.livejournal.com]

I included Carys because even though she may not have wanted to kiss her and it was the pheramones when Carys pushed her away she tried for more.

[natn2208.livejournal.com]

I hate Gwen for:

Her hypocrisy:
She refused to retcon Rhys, making a massive thing about it, when she had previously retconned him to hide her own affair. Not only that, but she is always banging on about how they need to do the right thing, but she's shown herself to be a liar and a cheat.

[mjmcca.livejournal.com]

Her moral compass is so erratic that she has no qualms about shagging one coworker and lusting after another while living with her boyfriend. Then when she finally comes clean to said live in boy friend, instead of living with the consequences of her actions she retcons Rhys so he wont remember she cheated on him.

Then to add insult to injury she refuses to retcon him at a later time in the best interests of Torchwood. Where were all the objections to retconning Rhys when he found out about her affair? Double standard.

Don't get me started on how she treats Andy.

[mjmcca.livejournal.com]

Three posts and we ALL pick the same thing to complain about.

[lukita.livejournal.com]

That she's too stupid to live, much less lead anyone.

She doesn't know a thing about Torchwood, Unit, aliens, profiling, hell, PC Andy told and showed her what to do with the little PDA. Why would anyone let her lead them anywhere?

[slns7552.livejournal.com]

She didn't know how to use a computer. All her "profiling" was done using paper and tape. All of a sudden in DW Stolen Earth she's a computer genuis.

And, no, this is not my rant. Just a response. :)

[lukita.livejournal.com]

And there are so many more stupid Gwen moments now that I've thought about it some more. Exit Wounds, telling the police to knock on doors instead of oh I don't know, handling the would be rioters and looters; CoE, going to the ATM, looking at every CCTV camera while on the run, well, everyone got hit by the stupid stick in CoE. There are probably more, but I'll be the first to admit I don't pay attention to Gwen scenes unless Rhys in them.

[mjmcca.livejournal.com]

That PDA was earth based tech too, regular 21st century stuff and she couldn't work it.

[lukita.livejournal.com]

That was a great scene since it highlights her incompetency so well. So what does she do in Torchwood again?

[mjmcca.livejournal.com]

Liaises with the local PD...Stands around and looks pretty. Jack hired Ianto mostly cause he makes good coffee and looks hot in a suit. He had hidden depths, but then again he worked for Torchwood one and Hartman didn't suffer fools gladly.

He hired Gwen cause of her looks too. Got much less of a bargain there though.

[blucougar.livejournal.com]

*snort*
If Gwen had been hired by Torchwood One, it would have been as an experimental test subject. She would have made the lab rats obsolete.
Frankly, I don't know why Lisa tried to upgrade her. Her brain isn't strong enough to function as a Cyberman.

[idamus.livejournal.com]

*Agrees with all of the above*

[pitac89.livejournal.com]

I had a nice, well thought out answer written, and then LJ ate it. So instead I'm merely going to say that she, like these damn comment boxes, is unreliable.

[mr-i-jones.livejournal.com]

EVERYTHING.

[thi13enthghost.livejournal.com]

She thinks she's the only one who cares about people, but has shown herself to be more thoughtless and insensitive than the rest of the team.

Examples: Small Worlds - When Estelle dies, instead of comforting Jack, she digs for information about his past.

Countrycide - "Who was the last person you snogged?" Enough said.

Meat - "None of you have anyone." She seems to forget they all have had loves that they've lost, who unlike hers stayed dead/lost. One of which (Tommy) had just died in the previous episode.

There's probably more that I can't think of now.

[ceindreadh.livejournal.com]

(son of a bitch, even LJ is a Gwen lover, not letting me post my comment)

Okay, here goes.
I hate Gwen because she's a selfish, self-centred cow.

A man died at her wedding because she refused to postpone it after the Nostrovite attack, but did she care?

And then of course, little miss 'i'm so compassionate and empathic and the only person with any humanity' takes half the freaking episode to cop on to the fact that since she's told her parents/friends/family that she's pregnant, that eventually she's going to have to tell them that she's not pregnant any more and keep up that lie for the rest of her life.
It took that long to occur to her that maybe her parents might be just a little upset at the thought that their daughter had lost a child? And she's supposed to be the only team member with a heart?

Selfish fucking cow.

[itsuki59.livejournal.com]

she always think she has the right answer and after is the others who paid the consequences --> adrift

don't follow order and it's the team who must deal with her mess---> day one, they keep killing suzie, meat...

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

She's stupid, she's completely useless, she's condescending while not having a clue about anything, she tramples on other people's feelings and always wants to have that which belongs to someone else (Jack) or is desired by someone else (Owen).

Can we hit the Reset button and have Suzie back? She only killed three people, compared with Gwen's killing spree, and at least she had brains.

[caunion.livejournal.com]

All too true. And okay, everyone in Torchwood has their little quirks but Gwen..not so much a quirk than a giant character flaw.

[suellen128.livejournal.com]

I agree with all the ones above, but Im specially angry to the fact that she is condescending and even talks back to Jack....THE BOSS

I'm sorry but If I have talked that way to my boss *which lets be fair we have all wanted to one time or another, but never done* I would have been FIRED!

i.e Ghost machine, Small worlds, Countrycide, THEY KEEP KILLING SUZIE, MEAT..... near enough the whole time during first and second season.

*I'm now off to read 'The many departures of Gwen Cooper' to make me feel happy again*

[bk_forever]

She's argumentative, refuses to follow direct orders from her boss and thinks she knows better than all her colleagues (including her immortal boss) even though they are way more experienced than she is. And even worse than that, she gets away with it!

[ceindreadh.livejournal.com]

even worse than that, she gets away with it!

THIS!
If Gwen ever seemed to suffer the consequences of her actions, then I might be a little more forgiving of the character.

Some of my favourite characters screw things up on a regular basis, but the difference is, they get called on their crap and they don't have everybody falling over themselves to love them.

[suellen128.livejournal.com]

i.e Ianto in Cyberwoman

[bk_forever]

RTD goes on and on about realism, but the way everyone treats Gwen is just not realistic. She point blank refuses when her boss tells her to stop investigating something not just once but repeatedly. If anyone else - whether in real life or on TV - did that, they'd be in huge trouble, but Gwen gets sympathy instead of punishment. How is that realistic? How can anyone learn from their mistakes if no one ever tells them 'You screwed up, you fix it'?

[mjmcca.livejournal.com]

REALISM?? REALISM???

If he were going for realism Gwen would have miscarried in day 2 after the concussion of the HUB blast sent her arse over elbow. I'm a nurse and I've had patients miscarry over far less trauma then that.

[bk_forever]

That was one of the things that infuriated me about CoE - with everything that happened to Gwen, she didn't get so much as a chipped nail. She SHOULD have lost the baby, at the very least, but apparently realism doesn't apply to Gwen. Not that RTD's version of realism bears any relationship whatsoever to actual reality! It's completely idiotic - not to mention unbelievable - that Gwen's pregnancy doesn't cause her the slightest problem throughout the whole mini-series, despite being thrown through the air like that. In fact, she barely seems to notice that she should be concussed, badly bruised, maybe have a couple of broken bones... I don't know, not a medical professional like yourself, so I'm only guessing but it seemed she should show some sign of injury after that. Ianto seemed dazed and disoriented, but Gwen didn't. I don't think she's even human!

[satanassa.livejournal.com]

Remember that scene in CoE day 3 where Gwen takes upon herself to instruct her colleagues (one a former con artist and the other a former shoplifter) in the fine art of crime?

Well, it seemed that her instructions involved almost always targeting Asian men (no really, just rewatch it and you'll see what I mean) and in one scene she nicks someone's laptop case and then walks away in FRONT of him, swaying her hips all the time!

More than Gwen-bashing, I'll have to bash RTD and his team of writers for the godawful way they have written this character.

[jennelldhalrbj.livejournal.com]

I hate Gwen because she is the most self centered person in Torchwood {and that includes everyone}.

The way folk carry on about her magnificence makes me think of modern art. I think it is crap but people stand around in groups looking at piles of shit and talk rubbish about how it is a sign of the destructiveness of modern civilization etc. People pickle sheep and throw rubbish from skips in heaps and then get prizes for it.

It is the same with Gwen. She is a useless, self centered bitch and we are all told exactly the opposite and people have fallen for it and are now having serious discussions about how she will form the new Torchwood.

It is actually a great joke by RTD, who has a weird sense of humor. He creates this cow and gradually everyone, including Eve Myles, comes to believe she is wonderful.

Off to bed now I have had a moan. My 10 year old had it right when she said to me that she thought Gwen was a bit silly, and she was actually only 9 then.

[haldane.livejournal.com]

The whole concept to telling us that somebody is "special" is a fallacy. If the character is special, the viewers will work it out for themselves. If the character is not, saying they are will not make it true.

I hate Gwen because she's shoved in our faces as "special! special!" while showing aboslutely no reason to justify this accolade.

How can anybody be dubbed "the moral heart" when the first scene she has with her de facto in the first episode has her lying to him?

[bk_forever]

Yes! This exactly!

[jsks.livejournal.com]

she breaths

[haldane.livejournal.com]

*falls over laughing*

[slns7552.livejournal.com]

She is supposed to remind them they are human is something they say about her and it pisses me off whenever I hear or read it. I think they are more human and have more humanity than she does. At least they know love and lose and have faced situations and consequence while she always comes out of everything smelling like a rose.

[severia.livejournal.com]

I know you said we are supposed to pick one but I have several and can't decide which one to choose.

First, it's her complete insensitivity towards the feelings of others. Examples: When Estelle died her pestering Jack with questions. Towards Toshiko in Greeks Bearing Gifts first she tried to find out what exactly did she hear and then telling her love suits you. Towards Ianto in Countrycide for her who was your last snog game.

Second, her infidelity even though she repeats all the time how much she loves Rhys. Why doesn't she behave like she loves him instead of repeating it all the time.

Third, accepting Rhys's proposal because "nobody else would have her". And after that still being ready to ditch him if Jack asked her and even on her weding day.

Fourth, her hypocrisy after refusing to retcon Rhys in Meat, even though she retconned him before while she knew how dangerous retcon is.

Fifth, her complete inability to follow orders repeatedly even though people were hurt and died and never facing consequences. Never learning from her mistakes and realising that somebody else can actually know better then her. Day One, Adrift, ...

Sixth, the way she treats Andy and uses him. Any episode Andy was in.

Seventh, her condescending attitude towards everybody else. Season 1, Season 2, Season 3.

Eight, the way they are trying to make us like her.

[blucougar.livejournal.com]

LOL
It was only a suggestion to pick one! Dude, you can name as many as you want! Rant to your heart's content!

I hate Gwen for/because:

[chester-kat.livejournal.com]

she's Gwen.

That and she appears to have the IQ of a plank of wood.
Wait that's being too harsh....

I hereby apologise to all planks of wood whose feelings may have been hurt by that insulting comparison.

[jennelldhalrbj.livejournal.com]

For some reason my youngest has called his Teddy Gwen. He has probably heard the name a great deal. He usually carries it about by one leg, and often bangs things with it shouting "Cash" {he can't say crash}. Someone should do this to Gwen in Torchwood.

[flabagash.livejournal.com]

everytime i gie her a chance and think i can like her she does something more annoying and iritating and i like her less........ like 1 step forwards two steps back type thing

exapmples:
Meat, first time i reconsidrered my hatred of gwern, when she stood up to jack and wanted to keep rhys in the know, i thought 'good for her!'..... until i remembered what she did at the end of combat *sick* and the eyes she make at jack while snogging rhysr *sicker!*
And - in C of E i really wanted to like gwen (although i did make some anti gwen cookies to eat before hand so i don't think it would have worked to well...) I can't remember what she did but not making puppy dog eyes at jack and such made me like her.... then she wanted to abort hers and rhys's baby and got out scot free and had to ask jack to stay for her